Steve Kay: The village boy making city folks shake their shoulders

Former gospel singer Steve Kay, aka Stephen Wekesa Masinde, hardly ever imagined that he would one day play his music to charged urbane crowds and adoring fans across the country and beyond the borders.

Born 26 years ago in Samoya village, Bungoma County, he started singing in church. A well-beaten path for most musicians, one would argue, but Steve’s stint in the gospel music industry was marred by the frustration of not being paid. With a wife and child to fend for, this position was untenable.

“Pastors and bishops would invite me to their church or crusades and give me food, accommodation and transport but nothing to take home. They would tell me that they would call me back and others would simply tell me that I was doing the work of the Lord and I should be content with His blessings,” he says, shaking his head at the memory.

CHANGED HIS LIFE

After three years of singing gospel music and struggling to make ends meet, he met a gentleman who would change his life for the better. The man approached Steve Kay and put forward a proposal.

“He told me that he liked my singing immensely and if I did a song for a certain politician, then he would pay me some good cash. I didn’t think twice!” an animated “Wambuli”hit maker recalls.

In 2013, he started making Bukusu music especially targeting Bungoma County politicians.

“I made a song praising Senator Moses Wetangula ahead of the by-elections in 2013 and that song was a hit! I would see kids sing along in the villages, supermarkets played the song in their promotional events and even boda boda riders were talking well of that singer, yet they never knew me,” he chuckles.

A year later, he released an album that had songs such as “Wambumuli” and “Bandu Bechisuti”. “Wambumuli” is about a philanderer who targets married women while “Bandu Bechisuti” decries how corruption has killed the Western Kenya economy.

“I sung how men in suits have killed our Webuye PanPaper Mills, they killed Mumias Sugar and are now slowly strangling Nzoia Sugar,” he says. .

The gamble of switching from gospel to topical Luhya songs paid off. He reveals how he sold thousands of copies of his debut album and got invited to tours all over Western Kenya and Nairobi. He even had concerts in Mbale, Tororo and Jinja in neighbouring Uganda.

FEMALE FANS

Like any other up-and-coming musician, he has had to battle with fame, money and attention, especially from female fans. He reveals how in some concerts, he has seen ladies remove their panties and wipe his face with them.

“I can’t push them away! I see them approaching with pieces of garments in their hands and I think probably it’s a handkerchief but when it is near my face I notice that they are sweaty panties! I just put on a brave face and continue singing. It’s crazy!” he laughs out loud, recalling how some voluptuous lady tried dancing with him and ended up toppling him over.

So how does his wife react to this unwanted affection being showered on her husband?

“She found me singing, she will have to deal with the fact that that is my job and I can’t stop doing shows in order to please her. If I do that, we would sleep hungry. But I have my principles, I leave the venue in the company of my band members and they don’t allow any strangers to follow us,” he says, curtly waving away allegations that musicians are philanderers.

It’s been an interesting seven-year journey for the man who grew up idolising Tanzania’s Professor Jay, Uganda’s Jose Chameleone and Kenyan rapper King Kaka. He loved rap and hip-hop songs as a kid before getting “saved” in high school and then spent longer periods watching and listening to Tanzania’s Solomon Mkubwa and Bonny Mweitege as he started his career in praise and worship songs.

TEETOTALER

The teetotaler insists he is a committed Christian and only patronises drinking spots strictly for performances only. And the performance requests are always coming in thick and fast. “I can have two or three shows per night in Nairobi, then I’m needed in Kisumu the following day in the morning and then drop in Bungoma to check on my family before I perform a couple of shows that night. It can get really hectic that I have to spend almost three or four weeks on the road. Really exhausting,” he says.

The soft-spoken musician dropped his second album in 2016 titled “Ochukha Obusie”. The title is also the lead song on the album and calls on people not to drop their guard while doing something or they will have themselves to blame.

“People have lost marriages, jobs or even opportunities due to some stupid mistakes we make like bosses hitting on their juniors, police collecting bribes or suitors embarrassing themselves in front of their in-laws,” he explains.

Apart from singing, Steve Kay has invested in a recording studio in Webuye and he is building a new one in Bungoma town. He credits Dennis Machio and David Toywa as the brains behind his quality and catchy music videos.

“Apart from being great video directors and producers, they also critique my audio and help me in arranging my songs, they are masters in their crafts.”

Steve Kay is currently working on his third album and is planning to go on a tour in the United Kingdom and Dubai.